Crude Oil Bubbles Up Into Woman's Home

NBC5i.com ^ | 02/03/2004 | Unattributed

[VRWCmember]

Crude Oil Bubbles Up Into Woman's Home
Officials Find No Cause For Sticky Situation

LONGVIEW, Texas -- When visiting the home of an east Texas woman, you can't help but think about the television show "The Beverly Hillbillies." That's because Leila Letourneau's home is literally filling up with so-called "black gold." Oil, that is.

According to Letourneau, she returned home Monday to find that an inch of raw crude oil had seeped up from the ground and into her home.

Despite the unusual occurrence, Letourneau said hers is the only house in the neighborhood to be affected.

"I went to both neighbors on either side to see if they were having any problems, across the street to see if anybody else had come home to this type situation, and none of them (...had) anything," Letourneau said.

Fire officials are investigating the cause of the problem.

Meanwhile, Letourneau said there are a number of pumping jacks near her neighborhood, but that there were no reported leaks.

Slideshow: Tour The Oily House

[Xenalyte]

BTW, she should go into town and get a facial, and perhaps buy some nice dresses at Bloomingdales, and oh, hire a decorator quick 'cause...

. . . damn.

[InABunkerUnderSF]

Cut to the chase. Is she or isn't she married? (Assuming she owns the mineral rights of course. ;-)

[vavavah]

Ya,ll forgot the best part........ Ellie Mae...

[JohnBovenmyer]

I hope she's not a smoker.

[Johnny_Cipher]

Sorry about that one. But I have to get in my RDA of groaners or my teeth hurt.

[BiffWondercat]

Bet they stick her with the 'super-fund' cleanup costs though...

I wouldn't surprise me the most infinitely tiniest amount these days.

[geopyg]

The trouble is - it isn't sarcasm. This gal probably doesn't own the mineral rights. Hopefully she has insurance, and hopefully the insurance will cover this type of problem. "I'm sorry - but you don't have flood insurance, and this is considered a flood of oil".

Not only will the cleanup be expensive, but the remediation of the problem will probably be huge. And good luck on her wanting to sell the house so she can move to Beverly Hills.

However, look on the bright side. She will hire lawyers who will make lots of money trying to sue the local oil company with the nearby pumping wells.

[EUPHORIC]

Ewwwwwwww!!!!!!! Time to leave THAT cat OUT at night!

[kenth]

LOL!

[farmfriend]

ping

[Brad’s Gramma]

!!!!

[TexasCowboy]

"So how long do you think it will be before the conspiracy theorists decide the president will declare war on her?"

OH, MAN!!
That one knocked me out of my chair!
LOLOL!!

[capydick]

WeeeeeeeeeeeeeeDoggies!!!. I wonder if the neighbors mind have an oil derrick next door.......

[TexasCowboy]

Okay, time to look at some facts and draw some logical conclusions:

The wells around Longview are shallow "pumpers" with pumpjacks dotting the landscape.
The Longview field has been in play almost as long as Spindletop.
The casing is old.
More than likely, the surface casing from a nearby well is ruptured and the small amount of gas lift has pushed the oil up through the ground into her living room.
The Texas Railroad Commission will come in and pressure test every well until they find the culprit, then that well will be plugged all the way to the top to protect the ground water.
Whomever is the owner of that well will be responsible for the cleanup and the cleaning of Leila Letourneau's carpets.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Can she keep some?

[TexasCowboy]

"Can she keep some?"

If she has mineral rights she's already getting royalty checks from the company who owns the well.
Her checks will diminish the amount that well is producing because that well will be plugged.

If she doesn't have mineral rights I'm sure the oil company will allow her to keep the squeezings out of her carpets.

[Rebelbase]

There was a case I was involved in once where an oil company delivered 100 gallons of fuel oil to the wrong house, one that didn't have an oil furnace anymore.

The oil tank had been removed and the filler stem left in place outside the house, so the 100 gallons just ran into the basement and flowed to every corner.

The owner sued the oil company and won and the oil company ended up with the house. Even after remediation, the fumes from the basement were so strong it made you ill being in the house.

The solution was to fill the basement with gravel and cap it with 8" of concrete.

[Brad’s Gramma]

I'm sure the oil company will allow her to keep the squeezings out of her carpets

Oh. OK. Thanks. Hope it's that old deep shag stuff.

[Dog Gone]

You're far more experienced with regard to field operations than I am, but your theory doesn't sound right to me, if the closest well is somewhere near her "neighborhood." I would think an oil plume would hit just about everyone between her and the nearest well.

If I had to guess, the house was built on top of an improperly abandoned well from many decades ago, and the plug broke. If the Longview field is using secondary or tertiary recovery methods, I'd really suspect this as the cause.

[Dog Gone]

LONGVIEW, Texas -- When visiting the home of an east Texas woman, you can't help but think about the television show "The Beverly Hillbillies."

That's because Leila Letourneau's home is literally filling up with so-called "black gold." Oil, that is.

According to Letourneau, she returned home Monday to find that an inch of raw crude oil had seeped up from the ground and into her home.

Despite the unusual occurrence, Letourneau said hers is the only house in the neighborhood to be affected.

"I went to both neighbors on either side to see if they were having any problems, across the street to see if anybody else had come home to this type situation, and none of them (...had) anything," Letourneau said.

Fire officials are investigating the cause of the problem.

Meanwhile, Letourneau said there are a number of pumping jacks near her neighborhood, but that there were no reported leaks.